


Elsa's Peril

by HathorAroha



Series: Frozen Fandom Month Stories [12]
Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Gen, dark au, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-19
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-10 01:23:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4371755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HathorAroha/pseuds/HathorAroha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Elsa returned to Arendelle at the same time as Anna, and what if the people did not accept Elsa as queen even after the Great Thaw?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Elsa's Peril

The reindeer races through cold, feet swift on ice as he brings Kristoff and Anna back to the castle. Anna, drained of any energy she once had, lets Kristoff cradle her in his muscular arms. It was actually kind of nice, soothing even. Maybe she had fallen asleep at one point, as next thing she knew, they were in the Arendelle village, hauntingly quiet without the hub-bub of everyday life. No traders selling wares and haggling prices, no patrons sitting outside, enjoying a sunny day, no fishermen shouting at each other on the docks, no children shrieking as they chased each other all over the market square. Arendelle had all but transformed into a ghost town.

Anna hears Kristoff's small yelp of surprise, the jolt as he brought his reindeer to a halt. Anna thought they had arrived at the gates, but his next words jolt her out of at least some of her stupor, her blood running cold.

"Anna? It's the queen. Don't look now."

_Something's happened to her._

Awful images flash through her head—had Elsa been killed? Oh God, what had happened? She shouldn't have left. She should have climbed back up the mountain, gone back to Elsa. But she had abandoned her. Left her vulnerable to attack. This was her fault.

"W-what? Is she…"

_No. Please._

"She's not moving," Kristoff informs grimly, "There's blood. Looks like Arendelle's guards are with her. One guard has a different uniform. Some wealthy-looking bloke's with them—looks like a prince."

Anna's heart hammered.  
_  
Hans!_

She prises her eyelids open, forcing her head to turn aside, to search for Elsa. But Kristoff's bulk blocks most of her view.

"Hans…" she breathes, "he…he has to be…"

Anna hears the gates pulling open, a commotion of voices, muddled together in their alarm and disbelief. She recognises Kai and Gerda's voices, but more disturbing are the reports she hears from Hans and the Arendelle guards.

"…killed one of Weselton's guards…"

"…icicle through the neck…"

"…out of control when we found her…"

"…chandelier…"  
_  
Chandelier? Oh, right. The ice chandelier._

Anna barely dredged up a watery memory of the magnificent chandelier in Elsa's ice castle.

"…fell on her—"

"Knocked her out—"

"Take her down to the dungeons." That was Hans.

"We have a cell with chains specially made for her—"

Anna struggles to lift her head—where was Elsa? Elsa! She catches a glimpse of the crowd at the gates, and there was Elsa, carried by a guard. Only her head, plait dangling toward the ground, and feet could be glimpsed beyond the guard's hold.

_Dungeons—they're going to chain her! The old dungeons—so lightless, so cold…_

And a horrible thought creeps in—what if they were right? She had killed a guard. But why? Maybe Elsa really was dangerous. She had hit her after all, but surely it was an accident. Anna knew Elsa likely hadn't meant to hit her in the heart, hadn't meant to hurt her. But why had she killed the guard? What…what had happened? Why had Hans…why…

_I need to get to her…_

"E-Elsa?" Anna croaks, "I'm…here…"

Someone must have spotted her, for another cry came from the knot of people at the gates. The guards had gone—Weselton's one going with them—as had Hans after them. Now just the three servants remained.

"Anna!" a servant cried.

Anna gasps as shards of sharp pain, colder than ice, shoots through her body as Kristoff slid off Sven's back, cradling the princess in his arms. She nestles against his warm, broad chest, his breathing laboured from the effort of racing back to the Arendelle town-ship.

"Anna!" Gerda cries out, "You had us worried _sick!_ "

Anna opens her eyes as Kristoff carefully sets her on her feet, his large, strong hands still supporting her. His hands were so warm, so protective. She was going to miss the feel of his hands, how they made her feel safe, like nothing would harm her as long as he was there. The musk of earth and reindeer caught in the threads of his ice-harvester clothing.  
_  
I'll miss…his hands…his scent…_ _Wait, what?_

Now different hands, warmer, softer, smaller, catch her as the two female servants wrap their arms around her, holding her up.

"Kristoff?" Anna looks over her shoulder one last time at him, eyes full of sorrow. She sees the heartbreak in his eyes, the slump of his shoulders, the way his eyes shone more than usual. "Are you going to be okay?"

His mouth pulls into a half-hearted smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Don't worry about me. Just go to Hans."

"Thank you," Kai addresses him, "for bringing our princess back."

And then Kai closes the gates, her last glimpse of Kristoff gone forever. An urge aches in her—she should run back to the gates, demand them opened again, so Kristoff could still be with her. She needed him. She needed him so much.

_It can't be love. I love Hans…don't I?_

But was everything he had said true?

"Did…" she began, but couldn't finish, her tongue so heavy with fatigue and cold.

"Sh, princess," Gerda soothes, her fingers squeezing Anna's shoulder, holding her close, "We'll get you inside to a fireplace and get you warm. You're freezing."

"Take me to Hans."

 _True love's kiss…_ she thought, languid with fatigue, _…I'll tell him…Elsa's cell…_

She would demand to be taken to Elsa—who might already be dead.

_No. No, she's knocked out…they said that…_

How did they know she hadn't died? She would die alone in her cell, not knowing Anna had come home too. Either way, she would say one more goodbye to her, even down in the dripping dungeons, home to rats. Anna had been down there once as a child, and never wanted to go back down there. She'd had nightmares for a while afterwards, dreaming of rats the size of men, dressed in the Arendelle Guard uniform, throwing her into one of the cells.  
  
Maybe she didn't want her true love's kiss after all. Should she be saved, only for Elsa to die? If she wasn't already dead? A castle with Elsa was quiet, serious. A castle without Elsa would be too quiet, too dreary, even if Anna had every window and door in the palace flung open.

* * *

Now they reach the doors, Kai pushing them open as the two women servants help Anna inside. They pass a guard at the doors, Kai stopping him to request where Hans had gone.

"To the library," the guard responds.

The shorter, plumper maid excused herself, so Kai took over from her, and with Gerda guides Anna in the direction of the library. Hans is at the door, about to pull it open, but stops when Kai calls for his attention. The prince's eyes widen as he spots Anna. He rushes forward, catching Anna in his arms as she grips his collar in her hands, suddenly desperate.

"Hans! You have to kiss me!"

The two servants excuse themselves, leaving Hans and Anna to "their privacy".

"What—slow down," Hans chastises, "What happened out there?"

"Elsa struck me with her powers," Anna chokes out.

Hans looks at her in concern. "You said she'd never hurt you."

"I…I was wrong." Her knees buckle, convulsing, hand over torso as a stab of agony rips through her.

"Anna!" Hans wraps an arm around Anna, opening the door to the library with the other, revealing the other dignitaries having taken refuge by the roaring fireplace. Hans orders them to leave, and they obey, filing out, but not without glancing over at the dying princess who was slowly freezing to death.

The prince lifts Anna into his arms, bringing her over to the couch near the fireplace. How comforting it felt, the warmth of the fire washing over her. She still shivers violently, the great heat buffered by the intense chill overtaking her body. The sofa dips slightly under her as Hans lays her on it, her head resting on an armrest. Anna suppresses a shiver—that was all she was doing now, trying not to shiver with frost.

"Elsa…I saw her…is it all true?"

"You saw her?"

"When I came back with…with…" Anna shivers again, "Is she…"

"Not dead. Unconscious."

"What happened?"

"There was a fight, she killed one of Weselton's guards. That's all you need to know."  
_  
What?_

"She just…killed that guard?"

"Whatever happened in her ice palace, the guard was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was out of control. Fortunately, the ice chandelier cracked and she was knocked out."

"And you took her back here?"

"To the cells, and I assure you, she'll be taken care of."

A chill prickles Anna's neck. "Taken—care—of?"

"It'll be alright, Anna," Hans soothes, "I have it under control."

Anna fought to stay awake, trying not to think of Elsa. Surely Hans didn't mean anything by his chilling words: taken care of. They wouldn't…no, Hans wouldn't. Not to her own sister. They wouldn't execute her, her blood dripping from some executioner's sword.

"She froze my heart," Anna reveals, "and only an act of true love can save it."

Hans stares down at her, "Is this why you wanted a kiss before?"

"Y-yes."

"A true love's kiss." He says the words slowly, as though to ponder each one.  
  
Anna allows her eyes to close as Hans reaches a hand to stroke the side of her face with his fingers. A tingle goes down her spine as he tucks two fingers under her chin, tugging her forward. His presence leaned toward her, and her heart thumps to feel him so close.

"Oh, Anna…" he murmurs, "If only there was someone out there who loved you."

Her eyes fly open, wide and unbelieving as he abruptly let go of her face, standing up with a cold little smirk at one corner of his mouth.

"W-what?" Anna's voice was small, cracking. "But…you said you did."

At this, Hans stops, and turns to look right in her eyes. "I never said I loved you. That was all in your head."

Anna searched desperately through her memories, trying to find a moment she had heard him say those three words. Hadn't he said…

"As thirteenth in line, I knew I would never attain the throne," Hans declares, his back now turned to Anna as he picks up the water pitcher, "So I needed to marry someone who would offer me a clear path to kingship. I found a naïve princess, so much easier to fool than her queen. A queen who is soon to be removed."

Anna could not tear her eyes from the water pitcher, the sound of Hans' footsteps as he approached the fireplace. She cries out in horror as he tipped the water jug over the flames, clouds of smoke blooming out of the fireplace as the fire was put out.

"No!" Anna pleads, "Please…"

The jug emptied, Hans replaces it on the table without so much as a clunk. He readjusts his gloves, pulling on their cuffs.

"I didn't think it would be so easy," he purrs, "Now I must take care of Elsa."

Anna's hands curl into fists, glaring up at Hans as she pushes herself up by her arms with all her strength.

"You're _no match_ for Elsa!" she spits out, "You're not getting away with this!"

Hans simply blinks down at her, seeming fully aware that this was only serving to infuriate the princess even more.

"At least…" Anna gasps, biting back a whimper as another jolt of agony spears her, "let me say a last goodbye to her!"

Maybe no-one loved her, not even Elsa, but she wasn't going to die without saying a last farewell to her older sister. Anna dared Hans to refuse her this last wish. If she was going to die anyway, she might as well die with Elsa.

"She is still my sister," Anna grits her teeth, refusing to show her pain, "I demand one last goodbye to her."

Hans seemed to be considering this, folding his arms as he towered over the princess. Finally, he supplied her with an answer.

"You will see her," Hans reaches down and yanks Anna to a standing position, and still she refused to cry out.  
_  
I won't give him the satisfaction of seeing my pain!_

"I will take you to her."

* * *

Hans dumps her into the care of the Arendelle guards, who escort her down at his request to the dungeons. Anna shivers, she couldn't stop now. The stone steps leading down into the cells are steep with jutting edges of stone ready to cut into the bare feet of its would-be prisoners. The guards' breaths cloud in the frozen air, but Anna could not see hers. Was she so cold now that even her breath was too cold to form clouds of exhalation?

"Here she is."

Anna raises her head as a guard pulls open the dungeon to the door, his partner bringing out his sword.

"Just in case," he states, clearly thinking he's putting the princess at ease.

But the princess has a sudden urge to rip the sword out of his hand—no-one was going to harm Elsa, not while she was right there! She hasn't long to dwell on the guard's sword, because then she sees Elsa motionless on the "bed" in the cell, a blanket draped over her.

"E-Elsa?" Anna gasps out, struggling to remain conscious.

"Don't take long," warns a guard as he escorts Anna inside, walking her over to the bed—really just a ledge attached to the stone wall—holding on to her arm as she collapses on her knees before her older sister. "We'll be back with Hans soon."

The cell door clangs shut, leaving a shivering Anna staring at her sister's face. She is so pale, her freckles standing out stark against her white flesh. New lines have appeared at the corners of her mouth, taut with tension even in sleep. Anna can hear Elsa's faint breathing, ragged with effort. Anna lifts her arm, fingers curling over the blanket's edge to tug it up so Elsa's shoulders are covered. She doesn't pull her arm away, letting its weight sink into the blanket, in a sort of hug that Anna hopes Elsa can feel somehow. But Elsa is cold, so cold that Anna is sure she can feel it through the blanket.

"I'm right here, Elsa," she soothes, "I'm…I'm sorry…"

Elsa shifts under the blanket, a little groan from her lips as she moves her head on the "bed". Anna slowly pulls her arm away, hugging herself, now well past shivering. She's still fighting to keep conscious, to stay focused, but it is rapidly becoming impossible. She watches as Elsa's eyelids twitch, parting enough for Anna to see two slits of blue, thin irises, her pupils large. The younger lowers herself a little, so she looks into Elsa's eyes as they open wide enough to spot Anna.

"Elsa?" Anna whispers, and her eyes now open all the way, widening as she recognises her.

With a cry—of alarm, of horror, perhaps both—Elsa struggles to sit up, the blanket slipping off her shoulders, revealing her hands enclosed in metal cuffs like cruel gloves, iron maidens for hands that spilt magic. The chains jangle, drawing Anna's attention.

 _They chained her. No,_ Hans _chained her!_

"Anna!" Elsa cries, her voice strained, "You…you are…"

Anna shakes her head, "It's okay, Elsa, I'm here."

Elsa whimpers, cuffed hands drawn to her chest. She slumps back against the wall, and Anna sees tears in her eyes. Her lips move, as though to form words, but there is nothing. Anna pulls her fuchsia cloak tighter around her shoulders, too weak even to stand up to sit by Elsa. All she can do is reach her hand out to touch one of the gloves of metal encasing Elsa's hand.

"Why are you here?" Elsa asks, "You need to get to the trolls! They'll heal you!"

Anna gazes up at her sister, a sad smile on her lips. "We…I did. They told me an act of true love will thaw my heart." A violent shudder, she curls up, desperate for warmth as frost thickens on the walls, ceiling, and floor of the dungeon. "Wait…this has happened before?"

Elsa squeezes her eyes shut. "You don't remember. They wiped your memories when it happened, but…yes. Once. When you were five. It was an accident."

Anna tugs at the braid that always bore the stripe of white, now indistinguishable from the rest of her hair, which no longer bears one strand of red. She tries to make sense of what Elsa is telling her.

"I'm a monster," Elsa continues, "I hurt you… _again_."

Anna wants to soothe Elsa, but isn't sure what to say or do, other than sit, curled up at her feet, trying not to stare at the chains. She longs to tear them off Elsa's hands, throw them out the window.

"It was an accident," Anna assures, "You didn't mean to do it."

Elsa shakes her chains, but the sound is slow, as though resigned to her imprisonment. "The guard, Anna. I meant it—they were trying to kill me. I couldn't help it. I didn't want to kill him."

Anna's heart skips a beat as she absorbs the implications of Elsa's words.

"You were attacked?"

"Weselton's guards. I should've just let them kill me." Elsa turns her head to stare out the window, blinks once, twice, slowly. A gasp, she stands up, runs to the window to look at what has become of Arendelle, forgetting she is still chained to the middle of the floor. "No!"

Anna pushes herself up, using the bed—really a ledge against the wall—as support, pushing herself upright as Elsa collapses to her knees, head bowed, her whole body seems to sag, as though she might be swallowed by the stonework of the floor. Her chains do not jangle, cuffed hands limp on her lap.

"You were right about Arendelle, Anna." Elsa's words are monotonous, devoid of life, "Hans brought me back here—he shouldn't have. I'm a danger to Arendelle, to everyone." She sinks to the floor, looking so small and fragile in the dark cell. "You deserve the Crown, Anna, I…" Elsa sounds as though she's swallowing a sob, "I deserve execution."

"No…" Anna's voice is soft, but then it becomes louder, more defiant. "No. _No._ Elsa, you won't be executed, not if I can help it."

"They're going to behead me. You shouldn't stay here. You should be with Hans."

" _Hans?_ " Anna hisses, from both pain and anger, "Hans betrayed me. He told me he never…he never really loved me. That there is no one out there who loves me. And maybe…is it…"

"He's wrong." Elsa's voice is so soft, Anna is sure she might have misheard.

"What?"

"Anna…"

Whatever else Elsa was going to say is interrupted by men shouting outside the cell door. Anna turns her head, gasping when she sees the guards, one with a large sword in his hand. Anna claps a hand to her mouth as the full implication of what is to happen hits her.

"Careful! She's dangerous!"

"No!" Anna is on her feet before she realises it, glaring down the guards as they unlock the door to the prison, "No! She is _not_ dangerous!"

The guards halt, staring at Anna.

"Girl's been bewitched, poor thing!" a well-meaning guard laments, "It's okay, Princess Anna, you won't have to see this."

Anna steals a quick glance back over her shoulder—Elsa has slumped down even more, if that was possible, resigned to her fate. Her head bows, chin to chest, plait dangling over one shoulder.

"Princess," a second guard tries to assuage her, "you do not understand. The queen is to be executed."

"Who ordered you?" Somehow, even when freezing to death, Anna finds steel in her tone.

And then there he is, shoving his way to the front, grabbing his own sword from his side. He exhales sharply, brow furrowing into angry lines, as he sees Anna still in the cell with Elsa.

"Step aside, Anna."

Anna shakes as much from cold as she does from fury. " _No._ "

" _Step aside._ "

With that, Hans shoves Anna bodily onto the ledge, the princess letting out an involuntary cry of pain as her head hits its edge. She wastes no time, scrambling back up as Hans approaches Elsa, his sword drawn for the kill. The guards try to get to Anna, arms outstretched, insisting for her not to look, so her "delicate senses" are not traumatised.

Anna doesn't care—she has to save Elsa, make her see that someone does love her. She refuses to let Elsa be executed by anyone. Gathering her dwindling resources of energy into her muscles, Anna lurches onto her feet, scrambling to Hans as he raises the sword, the blade glinting cruelly in the winter light.

" _NO!_ "

Her flesh transforms into ice a split second before the blade touches her outstretched hand. The sword splinters, shards of metal exploding into the dungeon walls. A shield-like wave of cold barrels into Hans and the guards, slamming them against the walls of the cell, knocking Hans out, but leaving the guards dazed on the ground.

And when Elsa scrambles up, Anna's name on her lips, the guards do not approach as the queen wraps her arms around the ice statue in the middle of the cell, body wracked with sobs. They want to look away from the queen's grief, and yet they cannot tear their eyes from the picture of lamentation. For what feels like forever, the only sound they can hear is the tears of the queen.

Then one of the guards grabs his colleague's arm, gripping tight, "Look!"

A heart-shaped hint of colour begins to spread from the middle of Anna's chest, tendrils of returned colour and warmth spreading like the first sunlight over the fjord cliffs in the morning. Yet, even when it has spread to the tips of Anna's toes and fingers, Elsa still weeps over Anna, until, that is, the latter shifts, a braid brushing over Elsa's handcuff as she looks down at her sorrowing older sister.

"Anna?" she manages, "You…you sacrificed yourself for me?"

Anna smiles, eyes only for Elsa, as she kneels to look her in the eyes. "I love you, and will no matter what, because you're my sister."

"E-even after what I've done?"

Anna's hands grip Elsa's arms, "Nothing you can do will ever make me stop caring about you, Elsa. Not even the past thirteen years."

"I still hurt people."

Anna moves a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind Elsa's ear. "The opposite of hurt is love. Love will thaw, that's what the trolls said."

Elsa's eyes light up as though she has just had an epiphany. "Love will thaw…love. Of course. But how can I thaw Arendelle with these on?"

Anna stands up and strides to the still shocked guards. She clicks her fingers to snap them out of their stupor.

"Get my sister out of these chains, now," she orders the first guard, who quickly obeys her, rushing over to assist the queen, "and you, take Hans away and put him in another dungeon until we can deal with him."

Before the second guard can get to him, Hans groans and sits up.

"Sword…where's…"

Anna grinds her teeth, shoulders hunched as she bends down to pick up Hans' broken sword as the guard hauls the prince to his feet. The princess strides to Hans, brandishing the useless sword at his chest.

" _Here's_ your sword, Hans."

Hans' eyes bulge as he discovers the fate of his beloved weapon. "H-how? But she froze your heart."

"The only frozen heart around here is yours," Anna seethes, "and I swear to God, I would dearly love to chase you all the way back to the Southern Isles with your own sword. Do not ever touch my sister again. Take him away."

Anna throws Hans' sword to the floor as the second guard drags him out of the cell. A clatter behind her tells the princess that the first guard has relieved Elsa of her chains. Seeing Elsa freed from her fetters, Anna rushes to help her sister up, pulling her into the tightest embrace of her life, face buried in Elsa's shoulder, her tears flowing freely as the queen wraps her arms around her too. The guard wisely decides to leave the cell, allowing the queen and princess to have a little private time together for a few minutes. Eventually, Elsa gently pulls back from the embrace, taking Anna's face in her hands, tenderly wiping away tears with her thumbs.

"Thank you, Anna," she whispers, "Thank you for not giving up on me."

Anna nods, smiling gently in response. "I never have and never will give up, Elsa—I will always be here for you."

"I know," Elsa coils an arm around Anna's shoulders, carefully avoiding stepping on the cuffs and chains, "Now let's get out of these horrible dungeons. We have a kingdom to thaw and a summer that awaits its return to Arendelle."

* * *

As she promised, Elsa thaws Arendelle, snow and ice blown away to bring back the warmth and sunshine of summer. She does this standing on a balcony, in view of the people of Arendelle, arms outstretched and uplifted, drawing the wintry magic away from the kingdom, so that the sun once again soaks the land in pleasant warmth. Anna is at her side as she does this, encouraging and assuring, and both share a smile when summer is fully restored.

"I knew you could do it," Anna praises, and Elsa can't help but smile at the overwhelming sincerity and love in her sister's words.

It seems now all is well in Arendelle again, the people freed of winter's grip, and for the most part, people are content and happy. Their queen and princess had saved their kingdom from the death grip of a never-ending winter, and now summer had returned. Yet, while Elsa easily restored summer once she knew love would thaw, she could not thaw deep-seated superstition.

The letters begin to pour in not long after the Great Thaw. There are reports of grumblings amongst the peasants overlooking crops ruined by the worst frost they had seen in many years, if not their whole lives. The Bishop assures Elsa in a letter that he does not believe she is an evil sorcerer, that such superstitions are silly, the fabrication of the minds of mortals. He regards the idea of executing anyone for "witchcraft" reprehensible, a black mark upon the history of Europe. A few guards, still convinced of Elsa's "dangerousness", resign from their posts at the castle, choosing other guard jobs far from the castle, where they could be "safer" from Elsa.

The dignitaries return to their countries, after hearing all of Elsa's apologies and assurances that all will be well again. Most seem to accept her formal apologies, but their responses are stiff, guarded, polite. The Duke of Weselton is the worst, having had to be literally held back by two guards from attacking Elsa. He will never forgive Elsa for killing one of his guards, even if it had been in self-defence. He is repeatedly reminded by Anna and Elsa that the guards had attacked first, Elsa had asked them to stop, and when they didn't, she had no choice but to defend herself. When he calls her a murderer, she doesn't respond in the negative or affirmative. It is Anna who explodes at him instead, in a very unbecoming manner, shouting how dare he say and do such things to Elsa who had done nothing wrong to him—or to anyone. She reprimands him, her words a wildfire of fury, reminding him he's lucky Elsa's worst sentence for him is to cut off all trade. Even Hans is sent back in disgrace, but leaves the choice open to his king to do what he will according to the Southern Isles' own laws.

Anna refuses to believe that anyone could wish Elsa to abdicate the throne, replaced by the safer princess who possesses no magic, as far as anybody can see. She is there for Elsa when angry complaints from peasants who have lost their crops demand compensation for their losses. Anna comforts her when she reads letters from mothers demanding she stay away from their little children, lest she hurt or "corrupt" them with witchcraft.

Elsa and Anna spend weeks, no, _months_ attempting to repair the queen's relationship with a deeply superstitious kingdom. But no one fools themselves into pretending that they would have plenty of food to see through the deep winter months—it had been too late to restore all the crops from the unusually severe frost in the middle of summer. The peasants do not let Elsa off easily, and they revolt, crowding into the courtyard to shout angry words up at the queen, tell her to abdicate and let Anna rule instead. They don't want no witches in their kingdom! They have worked themselves into a frenzy, convinced beyond all hope that Elsa will destroy their crops again the following spring.

Elsa breaks down more than once, Anna holding her tight as she sobs, frost and ice caking the room in which she weeps. She clings on to Anna, convinced she deserves death, that everyone else must be right. Anna hates feeling so helpless, wishing she could do more to convince the nation and other foreign lands that she was harmless. While there are some who do support the queen, they are so few in number that even Anna feels it is not enough.

The following spring, Anna turns nineteen, a birthday spent in the quiet confines of the castle, but at least now for the first time in forever, she could spend it with Elsa. Yet, even despite all the happy gifts, chocolate cake, and chance to take care of Elsa when she falls sick with a fever, Anna can't help a sinking feeling that this birthday will be the last she spends as a princess. Elsa has all but sworn to abdicate from the throne, Anna ruling in her place. Anna is terrified at this prospect—how could she rule? Her? She would ruin the kingdom single-handedly! It is Elsa's turn to assure the princess, to guide her in the many duties a queen must undertake in her day-to-day routines. Anna wants to believe she can do it, but she wants Elsa to be at her side. Elsa promises she _will_ always stay at her side, she will always be there to help, even if she can't be the queen anymore.

Anna is still nineteen when Elsa abdicates, passing the crown to her, retreating silently into the walls of the castle.

When Anna turns twenty-one, Arendelle welcomes their new queen with celebration.

She weeps as they cheer.


End file.
